Evergreen Forest on Judo Island, Wando

Judo Island is a small, round island about 300 m off the coast of Wando in South Jeolla Province, and the whole island is densely covered with evergreen forest made up of several hundred species. The trees and plants making up this forest include Neolitsea sericea, Japanese pittosporum, Eurya japonica, Japanese evergreen oak, Japanese chinquapin, Japanese privet, Indian hawthorn, Litsea japonica, Ilex integra, Cleyera japonica, Cinnamomum yabunikkei, Toxicodendron sylvestre, Korean hornbeam, zelkova, the vine Smilax sieboldii, Japanese honeysuckle, Viburnum erosum and the fern Selliguea hastata. The evergreen forest on Judo Island, Wando, preserves the character of warm-temperate forest better than anywhere else in Korea, and the fact that so many species grow within such a small area makes it a valuable resource for academic research. It also provides a favourable environment for fish, functioning as an eobu-rim, a coastal forest that draws shoals of fish towards the shore, and for this reason too it has been designated and protected as a natural monument. Judo Island is currently designated a restricted-access area in order to protect its evergreen forest. Anyone wishing to enter for management or research purposes must first obtain the permission of the Administrator of the Korea Heritage Service.

AI Translation

Where it is

Region

Wando, Jeonnam & Gwangju

Designation

Natural Monument · 천연기념물